It was the aggressor. Questions were possible about that in August; they are not now. I do not for one moment rest that assertion on the British judgment, or on the witness of our Allies. That is not admissible. We are judging in our case. We must go beyond that to the bar "of the opinion of mankind," called by Hume and Professor Dicey and President Wilson, "the final arbiter in all such matters."[1] That arbiter has delivered judgment with a unanimity that is singularly cogent. In the judgment of the neutral peoples this unparalleled catastrophe is due to Germany, An American says, "Germany's greatest weakness to-day is its moral isolation. It stands condemned by the judgment of the civilized world." Superhuman and even grotesque efforts have been made by their masterly adepts in the art of making the worse appear the better reason, and yet they have come to nothing. Britain has left her official documents to speak to the Americans, and their plain and simple facts have been enough to convince the jury. Boastful mendacity may triumph for the hour and the day, but it will be found out to-morrow. Every effort to fix the blame on Britain, or Russia, or France, or Belgium, has in the eyes of the non-belligerent populations come to grief. Germany is the culprit, and future generations will never forget that she started this war—not in defence, for she was not attacked, but purely for aggression and conquest.
Slowly, but with accumulating force, the evidence has gathered, showing that the war was long intended and assiduously prepared for. It cannot be doubted that the plot which led to the war was in existence and known to Italy as far back as August 9, 1913; for it was then proposed by Germany and Austria to send an ultimatum to Servia of substantially the same import as that which was sent in July, 1914. Again, between the 1st and 10th of November, 1913, King Albert of Belgium found that the Kaiser had changed his mind as to peace, and held that war with France was inevitable. Nor can it be questioned that the most scientific and effective preparations for war have been proceeding for the last fifteen years. Nothing has been forgotten. Everything has been done to secure victory. Bernhardi visited the States in May, 1913, more than a year before the war, and privately addressed gatherings of Germans. Dr. Starr Jordan, a distinguished
- ↑ Cf. The War and Public Opinion. By J. Clifford. Contemporary Review, November, 1914.
